World Largest Travel Luggage Company Samsonite CEO Resigns after Short-Seller Releases Report

World Largest Travel Luggage Company Samsonite CEO Resigns after Short-Seller Releases Report

The world’s largest travel luggage company Samsonite CEO Ramesh Tainwala has resigned after a US short-seller released a report of Samsonite’s questionable accounting practices and CEO academic credentials as a PhD holder. The United States short-seller Blue Orca Capital had released a research report on 24th May 2018, providing analysis that valued the Hong Kong listed company (SEHK: 1910) at nearly half its stock price (23/5/18: HKD 34.05, Short-seller valuation: HKD 17.59).

On 1st June 2018, Samsonite CEO Ramesh Tainwala announced his resignation and CFO Kyle Gendreau took over as CEO. The Samsonite Board of Directors has reviewed the allegations contained in the Short-Seller Report and has determined them to be one-sided and misleading. Prior to the report, the stock traded at HKD 34.05 on 23/5/18 (Wed) and fell to HKD 26.90 (Fri) on 25/5/18. The stock closed at HKD 29.55 on 1/6/18 (Fri) following the resigning of the CEO, down 13% for the 7 days trading period.

Samsonite International S.A. is the world’s largest travel luggage company, with a heritage dating back more than 100 years. The US headquartered and Hong Kong listed company was founded by Jesse Shwayder in 1910 in United States and had began business as a trunk manufacturing company. In 1941, the company introduced Samsonite and it became one of the most well-known travel luggage brands in the world. The company owns many leading brands including American Tourister, Tumi, High Sierra and Hartmann.